


five times klaus has zero expectations but his family loves him so much and they're really trying

by ObliqueOptimism



Series: five times fics (mostly about klaus if we're being honest about ourselves, which we are) [1]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: 5 Times, Gen, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Not Beta Read
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-03
Updated: 2019-10-05
Packaged: 2020-11-22 08:40:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20871350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ObliqueOptimism/pseuds/ObliqueOptimism
Summary: Five times that the Hargreeves siblings show Klaus that they love and care about him.





	1. the donut shop incident

**Author's Note:**

> well we can only blame [remus](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GabbyD/pseuds/GabbyD) for this okay, if you don't like this you must blame them. also none of the chapters are prob going to be very long. and everything is planned out and i've written the second chapter, writing the third now so. idk. i'm sorry.

They decided to go get donuts like when they were kids. Not that they were sneaking out in the middle of the night, but they were going as a group and planned to eat until they couldn’t anymore. Relive those few good childhood memories, make some more, maybe make it a tradition.

They didn’t really have traditions in their family.

Not any that people would want to make into a tradition that was (all of their ‘traditions’ would be commonly called abuse). 

So they went to Griddy’s Doughnuts, even though Five said it was not as great as their childhood memories said it was.

“Lighten up, Five!” Klaus said. “Why are you complaining about eating some fried bread? Who says no to that? You don’t even have to worry about your cholesterol anymore.”

“Shut up,” Five groused. 

They entered the shop and took a booth, it was a little crowded but no one seemed to mind. The waitress came over and they started ordering, saying that they planned to continue after their first round. The conversation flowed easily, everyone staying in a good mood.

Mostly everyone, anyway.

Klaus hadn’t known, he honestly _hadn’t_. If he had, maybe he would have said some excuse to not come, but now he was here, stuck between Five and Diego. And once he crossed the threshold into the building there was no turning back. He couldn’t make up a lie and run away then, his family would know and they’d hate him.

They’d only started to like him. (He hoped so anyway.)

They were having fun and since they saved the world there had been mostly tears and apologies and he didn’t want to ruin it. So he kept his mouth shut and smiled and nodded.

But there were _so many dead_. 

They looked like the goons they fought at the bowling alley, at the theater. In black with masks that had the red bug eyes. 

So he pretended they weren’t there, that he couldn’t hear them (calling out to him, calling out to Five). He pretended it was only his family, that he could actually hear the conversation. He was good at faking it anyway. He’d often faked his way through a conversation, and if they thought he wasn’t following or was a little spacey -- well, it was the drugs, wasn’t it?

But that was what tipped off his family.

Klaus was sober now.

Wasn’t he?

They looked at him, he kept his eyes down on his donut, tearing it into small pieces and not eating any. His smile didn’t move and he nodded as if keeping time to a metronome. It wasn’t quite right with him being high but why else was he acting like this?

“Klaus?” Allison asked, “Hey? You there?”

“What’s going on with him?” Vanya wondered.

“Shit,” Five said, gathering everyone’s attention. “I know what's going on.”

“What’s going on then--” Luther started but let the sentence hang as Five grabbed Klaus’s arm and blinked away. 

The ones left at the table turned and saw that Five had just taken Klaus out of the shop, who stumbled in surprise and was looking around very confused. As soon as they saw Five start to yell, they rushed outside.

“Why didn’t you say anything you idiot!” Five bellowed. Klaus’s shoulders sunk inward, he was obviously trying to make himself smaller while Five berated him. .”We love you! We would have gotten the donuts to go! Asshole! You’re sober now! You need to talk to us!” He jabbed his finger at Klaus. 

Klaus was reeling. It took him a moment to realize he was no longer in the shop, and then he had to listen to Five yell at him about how much he cared. He’d figured it out. Klaus thought he was a good liar, no one had ever caught him out before (paid attention). But here was Five, saving him from the ghosts, loudly proclaiming his love. 

“You listening to me?!” Five yelled, jabbing him again. “You are to talk to us!”

Klaus let out a weak smile, “‘Kay.” He knew his voice was quiet but Five would hear him.

Klaus figured they must love him, at least a little, when the rest started repeating Five. If they had all realized that Griddy’s was now home to a number of ghosts or not, he didn’t know. But Five seemed to. Five had done the killing after all. 

Five couldn't believe he hadn’t thought about it. That he had let a sober Klaus walk into a place he’d murdered a number of men just a few weeks prior? He was stupid. As soon as Griddy’s was mentioned he should have offered to bring back the food or some other shop. He could have taken the time to remember, to save Klaus from seeing--

He’d remember from now on. 

A bit late, but better than never.


	2. that time with the graveyard

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i still have to write the fifth chapter to this but i should be able to write that today. all other chapter are done, no worries my buds. honestly i'm pretty happy with this chapter and himbo klaus.

They were in Luther’s minivan. Because Luther went out and bought a minivan.

Klaus called her Brenda.

Brenda was better than Five’s van, Beverly.

Klaus leaned forward between the seats and looked at the dashboard. Most of it was nonsense to him. The speedometer and gas he understood but there were a few other gages that monitored oil? Engine grease? Brenda’s temp? Anyway, he looked at the gas because a baby (he’s baby) needed to pee and maybe they’d stop for gas soon. “Brenda’s a thirsty bitch,” Klaus announced.

“The fuck does that mean?” Diego asked from the driver’s seat.

Luther frowned from the passenger, “Don’t call her a bitch.”

“She wants that good, good juice.”

“For the love of all that is holy, Klaus,” Diego muttered. Klaus wasn’t sure _why_ Diego was driving Brenda when Luther was there but he wasn’t going to ask.

“She needs some gas and she and I must be having a mind meld because I need to pee.”

Diego looked down at the gas gage and yeah, he was close to empty. “Alright, we’ll make a stop. But no buying candy.”

“You can’t tell me what to do,” Klaus argued. He was going to buy _all_ the candy and share it with Luther just to show Diego who was boss (the baby was boss).

Diego stopped at a stop light but went straight at it instead of turning. Luther noticed and said, “The closest gas station was a few blocks east of us. It’s also in the direction we need to go?”

“You think I don’t know that?” Diego rolled his eyes.

“Then why did you go straight?”

“There’s a graveyard that way. Close to the gas station,” Diego muttered.

Luther nodded, “Ah, okay then.” His voice was light, like that was a normal excuse.

Klaus knew it wasn’t a normal excuse. It was weird, “Why aren’t we going past a graveyard?” He couldn’t see why that would cause an alternative route.

Luther turned to look at Klaus, “Did you really just ask that? _You?_”

Klaus shrugged, “I guess I did really just ask that. Why?”

“Jesus wept,” Diego said.

“Sure, but what’s he got to do with graveyards?” 

“Klaus, who lives in graveyards?” Luther tried. He couldn’t believe he had to spell it out for him.

“No one? That’s kind of the point? It’s just full of my dead peeps.” Klaus then took a second to think when Luther gave him a pointed look, “Wait, it’s me? We are going a different route for me? _Aw_, Di, we didn’t have to do that for little ol’ me.”

Diego nodded, “We did. I don’t ever want to take you past a graveyard when sober again.”

“Are you sure? I don’t? Remember that ever happening? Did you dream it?”

“No, idiot. You basically had an anxiety attack and then dissociated. I’m not surprised you don’t remember.”

Klaus sat back and decided to have a quiet think. It blew him away that he’d be a reason to change up the plan, even if its going a few blocks out of the way. He hadn’t even thought to ask them of this, they just decided it on their own. And at the mere mention of why, Luther knew. He figured out why Diego made this choice and he fully supported it, not arguing to maybe save some gas and go the graveyard way anyway, screw Klaus. But no, they both thought more about how it would affect Klaus than he did.

It was--

Weird.

But nice.

Maybe he would share his candy with both Luther and Diego after all.


	3. bubble baths aren't just for girls, side note: who says he's a boy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay it's 20 minutes til midnight close enough to the next day so i can claim i didn't update twice in one day. this fic is finished btw. just need to post the chapters. sorry not sorry.

It was Luther’s turn to do the shopping. There were about five lists, all with different handwriting on them, some items written on more than one but by different people who didn’t check and see if the item was already on one of the other lists. 

Even Grace and Pogo wrote a few things down. 

Klaus wrote one thing, which was odd. He normally liked to request all sorts of bizarre things that could not be bought at the local stores. However the time he wrote An Oscar, Allison gave him one of her’s so Luther guessed sometimes it was alright to dream big.

This time he just wrote ‘doritos’.

He didn’t even say what flavor.

Cool Ranch? Nacho? One of those hot flavors?

He’d buy one of each.

When he was trying to find a certain kind of lipstick that Allison wrote down (what was lip stain? It was just a type of lipstick, right?) he saw this bubble bath that he knew Klaus loved as a kid but their dad (and Luther) would always scold him about. It was lavender scented and the bubbles were a faint purple. If Klaus didn’t rinse the tub out after using it it would stain and Grace would have to bleach the tub, but Klaus had loved it. 

Whenever he snuck it in the house, if Luther saw it he would confiscate it and give it to Reginald. 

So Luther bought it.

He’d make up for being a tattletale (“narc” Klaus would say). 

After he got home, he carried everything in with just one trip. Being strong had its perks. 

As he was putting stuff away, Klaus came through the room talking to someone. Luther didn’t like to interrupt Klaus’s conversions but the bubble bath was in the sack he was emptying, “Oh, hey Klaus, I picked up the doritos you wanted, also, here,” he grabbed the bubble bath, “catch.” He made sure to throw it gently.

Klaus ended up fumbling as he caught it, but he managed. He froze when he saw what was and his eyes started to well up with tears, “For me?”

Luther hadn’t planned on making Klaus cry, he’d planned on making him happy. “Yeah, it’s for you. Obviously. Wait, why are you crying? Did I mess up? Do you not like it? We can give it to uh, Vanya? She might like it.”

Klaus wasn’t sure why he was crying. Since getting sober his emotions were all over the place. He had found that it was easier than ever to cry. The emotions he felt were also so much deeper than before and he didn’t always know _why_ he felt the way he did. 

He didn’t know _why_ he was crying. 

Ben was silently trying to give him comforting pats on the back but of course he didn’t make the connection. 

Klaus held the bubble bath towards Ben, “Look what Luther got me.” He was still crying. 

“That’s great, Klaus,” Ben said, giving a tight smile.

Klaus then hugged the bubble bath to his chest when he worried Luther would take it away because Klaus was being a dumb bitch and crying instead of thanking him.

“Why are you crying?” Luther asked hesitantly. He started to reach out to take the bubble bath back or hug Klaus or rub his back. Something to calm him down.

“I don’t know, but I am,” Klaus jerked back, worried for his bubble bath. Luther wasn’t going to take his present away.

“Are you okay?” Luther stopped moving but held both of his hands up as if talking to a scared animal.

“Yes! Now shut up. I”m going to go run a bubble bath now and cry in there.” That was a good plan. Finish his cry in peace. He couldn’t believe Luther had thought, had _remembered_, this was was the exact bubble bath from his childhood. The one Luther often stole and gave to daddy, _the narc_. 

“Well,” Luther inched closer, “do you need a hug?”

“No!”

“Are you sure?” Luther asked, holding his arms out, _an opening_.

“No!”

Luther gave a slight smile, “I’m going to hug you before your bath, okay?”

“Okay!”

Moving nice and slow, telegraphing his movement, Luther reached out and wrapped Klaus in a hug. Klaus felt so safe and _loved_ in the hug, as he clutched his gift.


	4. let's do a race up three flights of stairs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An offering

The had to go to the third floor. It was as simple as that. Go talk to the guy on the third floor, gather some information, leave. Klaus kept repeating how simple it was in his head. Third floor, info, out of there. 

But it was on the third floor and Allison and Vanya would want to take the elevator.

Maybe he could suggest a race up three flights of stairs?

No. That would be too weird. He’d have to just deal with it and get in. It wouldn’t be his first elevator ride and it wouldn’t be his last. 

He’d just have to--

Keep it together?

Maybe Ben would show up in time and help distract him.

Klaus was following his sisters blindly. To focused on his new slogan: third floor, info, leave. Third floor, info, leave. Third floor, info, leave. He wouldn’t even be long in the elevator. It was only the third floor. He could handle that.

They entered the building way sooner than he expected. 

“It’s only on the third floor,” Allison said, leading the group, “let’s take the stairs. Klaus doesn’t do well in elevators.”

Klaus stopped moving and his sisters turned to look at him, “What? How do you know. _Also!_ Yes I do! I do great in them!” He didn’t.

Allison frowned, “No? You panic. Unless it’s changed much since we were kids, doing missions together.” 

Klaus was taken aback. He hadn’t been in an elevator with his siblings since he was around thirteen, fourteen. And he’d hidden it then, rode the elevator silently, so no one would know. He spent the time trying to keep his mind off how it felt a lot like the mausoleum. “You remember from when we were kids?” Klaus wilted at how childish and small his voice sounded. 

Allison’s face softened, “Yeah. Of course.”

“Are you not claustrophobic now?” Vanya asked. She was almost surprised she didn’t have issues with closed off and small spaces but so far she didn’t seem to have _that_ sort of trauma from when their dad and Luther locked her up. Thank god.

Klaus nodded, “Cool, cool, cool. Oh no, for sure. For sure I am.” He held his hands out, palms flat and fingers splayed, “I didn’t realize anyone knew?”

“Of course, we all knew. Not why, but we knew,” Allison said, stepping towards him. “That’s when we first made you look out, you know? When we had to go up twenty floors in the Hamilton Hostage Situation?”

Klaus opened and closed his mouth a few times, “I thought that was because I was high? And you, _rightly so_, didn’t trust me?”

“Oh Klaus, _no_. That wasn’t why.”

“Huh,” Klaus was hugging himself, fingers tapping out a tune on his arms. He’d always thought he’d been _demoted_. That they didn’t trust him. Didn’t want him there to fuck things up. So since they were going to make him look out he might as well get as high as he wanted, they didn’t expect anything more out of him, why bother?

So he had fucked up.

Not like he thought he had, he just had been too stupid to understand they were looking out for him, he thought they were shunning him. He hadn’t believed in _them_ so they lost their belief in _him._

Allison wrapped him in a hug. “Hey now, shh. It’s fine, Klaus. Do you want to sit down here with Ben while Vanya and I handle this?”

“Ben’s not here,” Klaus said. “He wanted to follow Five around today.”

“Okay,” Allison patted his back soothingly. “Okay, Klaus. Then if you want you can wait alone or we’ll give you a minute and we’ll use the stairs to get to the third floor and do the plan.”

Klaus nodded, “Let’s do that one. I’ve been preparing for it.”

They gave him a minute. He had to get back on task. Only it was slightly different. He didn’t have to prepare himself for the elevator. Because his sister remembered he didn’t do well in elevators. They’d all known that, apparently. He hadn’t hidden it was well as he thought and they hadn’t ignored how badly he’d hidden his claustrophobia. They just didn’t verbally acknowledge it with him. Which was probably a good thing, considering their dear papa. If he’d found out about more than his fear of ghosts--

They’d looked out for him.

They were still looking out for him.


	5. holy cow they noticed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alright, here's the last chapter everyone, hope you like it. thank you all for the kind comments so far, you're the best.

Klaus had been visiting Leota. He met her during one of his stints at rehab. She’d gotten sober that first time, good for her. And afterwards if he really needed a place to stay she’d let him crash on her sofa. She never preached getting sober to him, hinted at it, sure, but never preached. She only asked that when he came he didn’t bring any drugs into her home, she didn’t want the temptation. He’d always understood and unless he forgot he had some E in his pocket, he never brought any in.

But now he was sober so he thought he’d visit her. 

He’d been there most of the day and hadn’t realized how late it had gotten. When he yawned she chuckled, “Sleep on my sofa like old times? Don’t want you falling asleep on any public transport on your way home.”

“That is a great idea, Leo,” Klaus nodded. 

In the morning she fixed him coffee like he preferred it and he helped himself to her cold cereal. It really was a lot like old times, only he wasn’t starting to feel the withdrawal, wishing she didn’t have her no drug rule. Better than old times then. 

Afterwards he said his goodbyes and got on the bus to go home.

It had been a good visit. They’d talked a lot, caught up, cried a little. She was proud of him. It was nice having her proud of him. He knew she’d be happy with the news that he was sober, he had a list of people from rehab and shelters who would be happy. And some EMTs, now that he thought about it.

Maybe he should put an add in the paper, like in the bit where people announced they were married or pregnant or whatever else people announced. Did people still do socialite parties? Announcing when they were _of age_? 

“What do you think Ben?” Klaus asked, walking up towards the Academy.

“I think it would be better if you just called everyone instead of posting an add. I know a lot of them would rather hear it from you instead of the newspaper,” Ben commented.

“Fair.”

When he entered the house Klaus hadn’t expected to be greeted with a very sleepy Vanya looking so relieved, “Thank god!” She pointed to him, “Sit, I’ve got to make some phone calls.” She then started dailing, “He’s home. No, he seems fine.” She then made another call the same way, and another, and another.

“What’s going on?” Klaus asked.

“Normally I wouldn’t make you sit and wait,” Vanya said, “but I know everyone is going to want to make sure you aren’t injured.”

“Everyone? Injured? What?” Klaus shared a look with Ben, “Why would I be injured?”

“You didn’t come home last night.”

Before he could reply his siblings started showing up. Five blinked in, Diego came in through a window, Allison the front door, Luther the back door. The didn’t all appear at the same time but staggered in and before Klaus could figure out what was going on the next one came home.

Everyone looked very tired.

Klaus wasn’t sure why it mattered so much that he didn’t come home. 

It wasn’t the first time he’d stayed out all night. It wasn’t a big deal. Besides, it's not like they’d notice he didn’t come home, right? They never noticed. He’d been kidnapped and missing for two days for fuck’s sake. And if they did notice they probably appreciated the peace and quiet with him gone. They’d made comments enough over the years about when his jaw was wired shut that he knew he was annoying. Besides, he understood the need for silence more than anyone.

“You’re okay?” Diego started patting Klaus down, looking for injuries.

“Uh, yeah? I visited a friend yesterday and it got late so I just crashed at her’s. Why?”

“We were worried something happened to you,” Allison said, looking relieved. 

“Huh?”

“You didn’t come home. We thought maybe something bad happened,” Vanya explained. “They’ve been out all night looking for you while I stayed here in case you came home.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Last time you went missing you had been kidnapped, you remember that?” Five rolled his eyes.

“Of course I remember. Hello? I kind of lived it,” Klaus muttered. Obviously he remembered. He remembered telling Hazel and Cha Cha that no one would notice he was gone. _He’d been right_.

“But you were safe? At your friend’s?” Luther asked. 

“Yeah of course. Leota’s place is always safe.”

The others shared a look, “How do you know this Leota person?” They knew what some of the people Klaus called ‘friend’ were like.

“We met in rehab years ago. It worked for her right away. She’s always been super supportive. Honestly, gang, I hadn’t realized how late it got when we were talking and she didn’t want me falling asleep on the bus. So I slept on her sofa. No biggie,” Klaus shrugged.

“Rehab? Oh shit, yeah,” Diego said, like they hadn’t even considered relapsing as a reason he didn’t come home. It was very strange to think that they had assumed he’d gotten injured, not gotten back into drugs. “Did you go to her, like, as a sponsor?”

“No?” Klaus had told them she was his friend, not his sponsor.

“Do you have a sponsor? Should we get you one?” Diego asked, stepping back from from him. All the siblings were nodding like they hadn’t ever thought of that. Never worried that he didn’t have a handle on his drug problem. That they trusted him and believed in him. It seemed odd to think that, but it seemed like that’s what they thought.

“Well I think I’m okay?” Klaus shrugged.

“Nice, bro!”

Better be safe and make sure that it was that they believed him in and hadn’t forgotten about the drugs, “You’re not like, going to check my pupils or new needle marks?”

Diego shook his head, “No. You said you were at your friends and that she was sober too.”

“Well, yeah. I was,” Klaus agreed slowly. He was blown away at how they were just _trusting_ him. They had been up all night worried for him, caring that he wasn’t home and now that he showed up unharmed they were just believing him. No need to double check his story to make sure he wasn’t high or drunk and lying about where he had been.

“Cool, next time call or leave a fucking note, dude. Does your friend not have a phone? Fuck, _does your friend not have a phone?_” Diego said.

“Uh, she has a phone,” Klaus said. Looking down he added, “I just honestly didn’t think you’d notice me being gone and if you did notice you’d enjoy the peace and quiet.” God why did he have to sound like an idiot with no self-esteem. Oh yeah, because he was an idiot with no self-esteem.

Allison rolled her eyes, “Well sure, but we enjoy you more.”

“Also we’d enjoy the peace and quiet only if we knew you were safe,” Five muttered. 

“Oh, okay sure. Uh, next time I’ll be sure to call.”

“That’s all we ask,” Luther smiled slightly. 

With that they split up, most of them heading to bed because Klaus had kept them up all night. He hadn’t expected them to notice, _to care_, but they just kept proving to him how much they _did care_ and how much they loved him and how they were really trying.

Maybe he should start meeting them halfway and telling them more. It was pretty clear that they actually wanted to spend time with him and know his thoughts and feelings now. It was new.

But he liked it.

He could get used to feeling loved.


End file.
